Your Body is a Fortress, Part 2

Imagine a rectangle.

Imagine that rectangle in 3-D, encompassing the area from the upper crest of your two hip bones (front to back) to the space directly under your lower ribs.

How does that general area feel right now? Supported and tight—wrapped by the musculature and fascia that forms a girdle or weight belt around the area? Or is it radiating with pain?

Today’s big three points for the Your Body is a Fortress series are focused in helping you maintain a healthy back, or helping heal your back if you’re experiencing pain. I’ve seen and helped a lot of people through crushing back pain in my practice, but probably the best teacher has been winning my own battle against the chronic beast. My own success also enabled me to avoid surgery and keep my sanity.

[The caveat, here, which I hope would be obvious, is that, while I am a “doctor,” I am not the type that treats patients. My tips come from my experience as a massage therapist, a student of treating my own pain, and from being a personal trainer. If you want your DNA evaluated, that’s another life…]

Lots of causes for back pain exist. They could be structure related, injury related, or something I’ll call ‘habit’ related. If you’ve been seriously injured, my big three points may not apply to you. However, you may have recently bent over and ‘threw your back out’ or you may be sitting there reading this post and feeling a burning sensation developing in your 3-D square.

These last couple of examples are where I’m focusing today’s three quick tips. Read ‘em or weep…

1.   One of the most important muscle groups to immediately begin to strengthen is the transversus abdominis (TVA). This is the muscle group responsible for sucking in your tummy when you pass by a store window, after realizing that your gut is poking out (of course, I never do this, and I have never been caught doing this). Or, you can watch this video to see them in action:

The reason the TVA is so important, is that it stabilizes the vertebrae and spine. Over time, many folks develop an unacceptably weak TVA, which can be compounded by many hours spent in a seated position. Sound familiar anyone? 

A super awesome strengthening exercise is to lie down, as shown in the video, and contract the TVA for about 10 seconds, relax, repeat about 10 times. You can also do this while you’re seated at work to remind you 1) that the TVA is there to help you and 2) remind the TVA that it is there to help you. As shown on the video, you can also do this exercise while on all fours.

Tons of books exist out there about core strengthening, many are pretty good. A favorite of mine, which isn’t specifically about back pain, but hits on all the fundamentals about how to eliminate back pain, is by Paul Chek (I don’t make any coins off clicking the link, I like it that much). Also, Pilates was developed, in part, to address this chronic weak area. With the right instructor, Pilates is a great bet if you have the time and dough.

2.   There’s a lot of strengthening stuff I could talk about, but my second tip is about what to do if you happen to go into spasm, or what I often hear as, “Arrrggh, %&$#@!, I threw my back out!”

Be calm and breathe.

Immediately, if not sooner, do these three things:

a) Grab 600 mgs, usually three tablets, of ibuprophen or any anti-inflammatory (I’m not into taking stuff usually, but your body needs to be told that now is not the time to swell.) Take with a lot of water and a bit of food to protect your tummy. Take three per day for the first 2 days, then you should be feeling better and can either stop or take a couple a day for a few more days to help control the inflammation.

b) Get ice! Since I am still a bit prone to spasm (like, once a year or so), I keep three packs of frozen peas in my freezer. I suggest you you do the same and wrap them in a sealable bag prior to using them. They are semi-reusable (for a few days at least…). 

c) Get flat! Lie on the floor or solid surface, get your legs up on a chair so your knees are at 90º, then put the ice/pea bag under your back where it hurts for 7–8 minutes at a time. 2–3 times every hour for the first few hours, then once an hour after that for the first 12 hrs or so, then a few times a day. You’re looking for icing to numbness, but not to frostbite, so set a timer to make sure you’re not damaging your skin.
Within a couple days, with the proper care, you should be back on you feet, ready to conquer the world. Take spasm as a reminder to start focusing on strengthening your core.

3.   Again (echoing Part 1), change it up. If you’re sitting at a desk a lot, move around. I know I keep harping on this, but the body craves and needs movement. If you’re stuck in a chair all day, move it around as much as possible. Put a little wedge to put under you bum to change your position. If you’re required to stand a lot, hold your TVA tight like a girdle, expand your lungs, keep your chest high. Think, “My body is a fortress, my body is a fortress, my body is a fortress,” and engage your lower abdominals. Keep them firm (the girdle tight). Stand tall. Tuck you hips under to give foundation to your towers.

Back pain is both avoidable and fixable. You just have to work on strengthening the tension wires that support your drawbridges and towers. Unlike any other injury I’ve experienced, the problem with back pain is that it is completely not intuitive to exercise away the pain. But, that’s what it often takes. You can do this, you can strengthen your core and experience better health. I only touched on a few things here, there’s much more to this, such as stretching and proper hydration to puff up those vertebral discs, but these three tips are a great place to start.

Your body is a fortress; don’t forget, even the most stead-fast fortresses still need the proper maintenance.

Please don’t hesitate to email me if I can help you get through back pain you may be experiencing at lori [at symbol] janebenimble [dot] com.

Create a great day!